Dedicated to the Character and Cruelty of Stanford Football

Orange Bowl

11/23/2011

Remember last week when Stanford's BCS dreams came crashing down and the outlook was bleak and dreary? Remember when I tried to assure you that everything would be okay and the Cardinal would still manage to secure a BCS bid? Better than that, remember when I laid out that pie-in-the-sky scenario that could actually end with the Cardinal still playing for the national championship?

After one of the craziest weekends in the history of the BCS, Stanford is suddenly firmly entrenched amongst a sea of teams that aren't good enough to separate from the pack. They are one of six one-loss teams looking up at LSU, the only undefeated team that matters. (Sorry, Houston.)

There are lots of reasons why the BCS system should be wished into the cornfield, and this weekend is Exhibit A. The voters clearly have no idea what they're doing. Oregon lost to a surging USC team that's clearly developed into one of the top seven or eight teams in the country, and they're pushed back six spots to number ten. Stanford's loss last week to Oregon, then seen as the team most deserving of a title shot, cost them five spots in the BCS. But the voters love Oklahoma State, so OSU's loss to an anemic Iowa State team only pushed them down two rungs to number four, two spots ahead of Stanford. Stanford also trails Virginia Tech, which is... how you say? A travesty.

Anyway, here's our team-by-team look at the weekly standings. As always, your comments are more than welcome.

01/03/2011

It's amazing how things can change in the space of two hours. At halftime things looked tense, as the Cardinal clung to a 13-12 lead and hadn't played their best football. With Virginia Tech set to receive the opening kick off, it seemed certain that the game would remain close and maybe come down to a play made by one quarterback or the other in the final minutes.

But it didn't happen that way. After quickly snuffing out VaTech's opening drive, the defense handed the ball over to Andrew Luck, who did what Stanford fans have grown used to seeing him do. He led the Mighty Card on four consecutive touchdown drives to show the rest of the nation what we already know: the Stanford Cardinal are at least the second-best team in the country.

I'm struck by a few things. First, Virginia Tech is a damn good team, especially the defense. Watching the Mighty Card as closely as I have this year, there are things that I've gotten used to. The running game will be dominant; Andrew Luck will direct long, productive drives; the receivers will find space whether playing against a zone or a man scheme.

None of that has been true tonight. Aside from two long runs by Jeremy Stewart -- Jeremy Stewart! -- the Stanford ground game has been nonexistent. As a result, things have been more difficult for Luck and his receiving corps. Luck has been efficient (9 for 13) but not prolific (85 yards).

The big story, though, has been Tyrod Taylor. The Virginia Tech quarterback has been as good as advertised, or even better. He's had a few critical scrambles, but his biggest moment was an absolutely amazing play early in the second quarter. After the Hokies had driven to a first and goal, the Stanford defense pushed them back on consecutive plays to force a third down from the twelve. On that third down Taylor was forced to scramble all the way back beyond the twenty, chased by Owen Marecic. As he neared the Stanford sideline, Taylor executed a nifty hop step to avoid a diving Marecic, tiptoed along the sideline, then floated a pass into the endzone for a touchdown. It was pure Michael Vick.

Overall, though, the Stanford defense played well, led by linebacker Shayne Skov, who's likely playing his way onto a lot of 2011 preseason honors lists.

The adjustments have been made. Now let's see how the second half shakes out.

01/01/2011

Here's what I know -- or at least what I've known to be true since I first started following Stanford Football in the autumn of 1987. Stanford University does not have trouble hiring excellent football coaches (the Two-Faced Denny Green, Bill Walsh, Tyrone Willingham, Jim Harbaugh), but there appears to be a problem keeping them (the Two-Faced Denny Green, Bill Walsh, Tyrone Willingham).

The argument goes that Stanford is a stepping stone. Aspiring young coaches are eager to take the job because of the high profile conference and the relatively low expectations at the school. Presumably, even moderate success in Palo Alto can be parlayed into greater prestige, a larger paycheck, and greener grass on the other side of the fence.

And so it is that as the Mighty Card get ready to play the final game in what could be their greatest ever season, the focus is not on Heisman finalist Andrew Luck or two-way starter Owen Marecic or the resurgent Stanford defense or even the miraculous turnaround from the 1-11 debacle of 2006. Instead the focus is on Jim Harbaugh and what most expect to be his imminent flight to the University of Michigan.

It's hard for me to be objective about all this, because I'm obviously biased. I love Stanford University, and I can't imagine why anyone would ever want to leave -- and I was BORN in Michigan.

But I have selfish reasons for wanting Harbaugh to stay. I got tremendous pleasure out of watching the Mighty Card on Saturdays and writing about them throughout the week. I believe that if Harbaugh were to stay, there would be other years like this and other players like Andrew Luck. I believe that people would stop being surprised to see the Cardinal ranked highly in national polls. Finally, I believe that people might stop expecting great coaches to leave.

There are, however, many good reasons for Harbaugh to move on. If it's to the NFL, he'll be giving himself the opportunity to compete at the highest level of his profession while being paid handsomely. If it's at the University of Michigan, he'll be walking in the footsteps of his idol, Bo Schembechler, and returning to the field where he once played quarterback.

Given those two different rationales, I suppose I couldn't really fault him for either of those choices. What I hope, though, is that Jim Harbaugh might use a different set of criteria when he sits down to make his final decision.

If his ego drives him to want to be known as the best, I hope he sees that the NFL does not offer such accolades to head coaches. The NFL is a tireless machine that devours good coaches and merely tolerates those who are great. Bill Bellicheck, for instance, is simply a technician; Tom Brady is the genius.

If he thinks about his legacy, I hope he knows that there is room for but one face on Ann Arbor's Mt. Rushmore. I've no doubt that he could rebuild the Wolverines into national championship contenders within three or four years, but he would only be returning them to the level the school's alumni expects. Lloyd Carr did that after Gary Moeller, and someone will do it after Rich Rodriguez. There is only one god at Michigan, and his name is Bo.

But if Harbaugh does what almost no one expects and actually signs that extension sitting on his desk, he would be taking a step towards greatness. Other coaches have shown that it is possible to win at Stanford, but if Harbaugh were to show that he could build a solid program that could consistently compete for championships, he would elevate himself above all other coaches in the college ranks. A statue would be erected in his honor upon his retirement, and his name would be whispered in awe by all those lucky enough to have seen his teams play.

The problem, of course, is that we don't know what's in Harbaugh's heart. We should find out in just a few days.

12/23/2010

The game is still eleven days away, but I think it's time to start looking at the Virginia Tech Hokies and thinking about how they'll match up with the Mighty Card. With a quarterback that looks a lot like a better version of Oregon's Darron Thomas and a trio of running backs headed to the NFL, the offense looks scary. When you add a top-flight defense with one of the best secondaries in the nation, it's clear that the Cardinal will have their work cut out for them in the Orange Bowl. With all this in mind, I reached out to two different writers who follow the Hokies closely and asked them a few questions about their team. Next up is Justin Cocchiola of ACCRivals.com. You can check out my answers to Justin's questions over there also. Enjoy...

12/05/2010

Up until now, whenever you thought of oranges within the context of Stanford Football, you probably arrived at the image of thousands of oranges raining down from the Cal student section, targeted at the heads of the Stanford band during a Big Game half time show.

Tonight, though, everything changed. Thanks to coach Jim Harbaugh, quarterback Andrew Luck, the dominant offense, the resilient defense, and -- yes -- the loyal fan base, the Mighty Card has been selected to perform on one of college football's biggest and most historic stages -- the Orange Bowl.

There will be lots of discussion on a national level lamenting the thought that Stanford fans wouldn't buy enough tickets to warrant a more desirable slot against a better team in the Sugar Bowl or Fiesta Bowl, and griping throughout Cardinal Nation that an obscure clause in the BCS contract kept the team from its rightful place in the Rose Bowl.

I'll have lots more in the coming weeks previewing the actual matchup with Virginia Tech, but for now let's look at the politics. The bowl system is about making money, plain and simple, so none of this should come as any surprise. What is surprising, though, is that any of this is happening at all. In 2006 the Not-So-Mighty Card was one of the worst teams in the country, finishing at 1-8 and dead last in the conference. Four years later the team is one bad half of football from playing in the national championship game, and people are complaining.

The Stanford Cardinal will be playing in a BCS bowl game in the first week of January, bringing millions of dollars to the Pac-10 conference, and priceless exposure to a resurgent football program looking to impress young recruits around the nation. Regardless of how disappointed you might feel right now, there is absolutely nothing to be upset about concerning the state of Stanford Football. Everything, as they say, is alright now.

GMC Book Club

Thanks to a recent donation, as of November 10th, GMC readers have donated a total of 216 books to my classroom! My students are always looking for new and exciting books, so if you'd like to contribute, simply click here! Or, click here to read my original post and find out more!